About
We are Here : perception, experience, movement, production
A two week interdisciplinary workshop that explores radical artistic approaches to geography and cartography.
Project Description
Geography is a study into how spaces are produced. In this seminal work ‘The Production of Space’ geographer/philosopher Henri Lefebvre describes the social production of space, referring to the intimate relationship between space and human activities. We create spaces which in turn create us. Mechanisms of power, economics, culture, history and science influence the type of spaces we create, what they look like and what takes place inside them. From the earliest to the most contemporary, maps have provided us with the means for depicting, understanding and exploring the world, but at the same time can only provide a reduced view of what a space is composed of. In other words, what do maps show and what do they not?
Contemporary artists are incorporating geographic and cartographic methods in ways that are cross-disciplinary, bringing together architecture, journalism, design, archeology, sociology, and activism and producing diverse outcomes that range from texts, site-specific interventions, tours, maps, sound and video art, photographs, sculptures, works on paper or performances.
Through a series of artistic and theoretical lectures, screenings, onsite explorations and student-driven research, this workshop is intended to introduce participants to different strategies for describing, understanding and interpreting space. Participants will produce a group work where a focused geographical reading of the cultural space of the Bergen National Academy of the Arts (KHIB) will be made. Through a series of mapping exercises, workshop participants will attempt to define how the cultural space of the academy is produced, within the academy itself and its relation to broader critical issues pertaining to cultural / artistic practices and (administrative, economic, political, etc) systems. Information will be generated through online and onsite research and will be brought together in individual proposals. A blog will be set up and maintained during the workshop.
The We are Here : perception, experience, movement, production workshop was developed and led by Michelle Teran.
about Michelle Teran
Michelle Teran explores the interaction between media and social networks in urban environments. She develops performances, with the audience often participating via the staging of urban interventions such as guided tours, walks and open-air projections, participatory installations and happenings.
She has received numerous grants and awards for her work including the Prix Ars Electronica honorary mention within the interactive art category, 2nd prize in the Vida 8.0 Art & Artificial Life International Competition (Madrid) and nominations for the 2005 and 2010 Transmediale Award. She currently lives and works in Berlin.
